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13 Confocal microscopy of fixed, unpermeabilized Clone 9 cells ex

13 Confocal microscopy of fixed, unpermeabilized Clone 9 cells expressing Dyn2(aa)-GFP revealed a modest localization of fluorescence along the dorsal membrane, with most of the labeled Dyn2 situated along the ventral PM. Optical sections along the base of expressing cells (Fig. 1) displayed “lawns” of Dyn2(aa)-GFP spots reminiscent of clathrin-coated BGB324 nmr pits. In addition to these puncta we observed that Dyn2(aa)-GFP was also organized into large, flat, tubulovesicular plaques. These structures were observed in many but not all cells, ranged in size from

2-10 μm, and appeared to vary in the number of associated vesicles (Fig. 1A,B). To test if these Dyn2-rich structures were present only in transfected cells as a result of dynamin overexpression or the GFP tag, untransfected cells were fixed and stained with a purified,

pan-polyclonal antibody (MC63) to dynamin. These cells displayed a dynamin distribution identical to that of transfected cells. Antibody staining confirmed that endogenous Dyn2, like Dyn2(aa)-GFP, was incorporated into discrete puncta or larger, flat plaques along the cell base (images not shown). This result indicates selleck that the localization and organization of the expressed protein mimics that of endogenous Dyn2. To define the shape and organization of these structures at the ultrastructural level, electron microscopy (EM) was performed on Clone 9 cells. Cells were exposed to 10 μg/ml horseradish peroxidase (HRP) in culture medium for 45 minutes before fixation and reaction

of the HRP with 3,3′-diaminobenzidine (DAB) and H2O2. Cells were then fixed, dehydrated, embedded, and sectioned en face to the substrate to ensure that the hot spots were viewed in the same orientation as in the confocal microscopic images (Fig. 1A,B). Electron micrographs of the HRP-treated cells revealed many spherical, densely labeled endosomes distributed throughout the cytoplasm, similar to what has been observed by others. Most striking were the large tubulovesicular, 上海皓元 HRP-positive structures along the ventral PM at the cell base. These structures were comprised of many anastomosing tubules of a remarkably uniform thickness. In many areas these tubules were deformed and compressed to form vesicle-like buds. From these morphological and functional criteria, the tubulovesicular endocytic structures appear to be the hot spots observed in living cells by confocal microscopy. Because Dyn2 participates in the formation of secretory vesicles from the TGN, caveolae, and clathrin-coated9, 19 endocytic vesicles from the PM, we needed to define the coat proteins that comprise the large structures. Transfected and untransfected cells were fixed, permeabilized, and stained with antibodies to a variety of membranous organelles such as clathrin, mannosidase II, AP1, AP2, TGN38, and caveolin-1.